7 May 2020
DCC staff guidance for dealing with coronavirus (COVID-19)
Public: coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for Devon on our website
Please pass this onto district, borough, parish and town councillors as appropriate. The bulletin can be shared as a link by clicking the 'View it as a Web page' link at the top.
Devon County Council leader John Hart says:
“This Friday, 8 May, as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day perhaps we should all reflect on the sacrifices that so many people made in the past to ensure we enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we are temporarily deprived of at the moment.
“Now our foe is a virus with NHS and care staff on the front line and every single person in the country, in their villages, towns and cities, able to play their part.
“We are all growing tired of lockdown but here in the South West we want to thank people for continuing to observe Government travel restrictions and not coming here right now. A warm welcome awaits later.”
We would normally expect thousands of tourists to visit the South West over the weekend, for people to head to their second homes, and for us all to take some time out in the beautiful Devon environment.
But these are sadly not normal times. Coronavirus has turned life as we know it upside down and together with our colleagues from the District Councils, across the public sector and Cornwall Council, we are thanking people for staying away this weekend. The South West will be open again, and we will welcome visitors with open arms when the time is right, but for now it is vital that we all continue to stay at home and stay safe.
 With this in mind, at the Downing Street press conferences today (7 May) and Sunday (10 May), the Government is expected to outline its plans for the next steps for the country. This could include guidance to help get people back to work in the coming weeks, while continuing to follow social distancing and hygiene measures.
At Devon County Council we are beginning to think ahead about what the ‘new normal’ might look like for us. We have shown over the past weeks how adaptable we are and that we can continue to deliver vital services and protect the most vulnerable in our communities in extraordinary circumstances.
We will of course continue to review all our working arrangements for Members and staff as Government guidance emerges but for now, please keep going; please keep working from home if you can; and most of all, please keep safe.
Recycling centres to open for essential use only
We are reopening our recycling centres for essential use only from Monday 11 May.
The government has defined ‘essential use’ as waste that ‘cannot be stored without causing a risk of injury, health or harm to the resident or other members of their household.’ Each individual householder will need to decide whether their waste can or cannot be stored safely at home for now and whether their journey is essential. For more information visit the COVID-19 web pages on waste and recycling.
COVID Prompt Action Fund in action!
We would like to share the important work that projects funded by our COVID-19 Prompt Action Fund have been doing within their communities.
As it’s Deaf Awareness Week we thought it would be a good chance to share how Paddleboat Theatre Company is using our COVID-19 Prompt Action Fund to support deaf children and families, by making sign supported video storytelling of their book ‘According to Arthur’ and short online drama activities they have made based on the story.
You can find out more about the activities on the Paddleboat Theatre Company website or on YouTube and find out more about the Prompt Action Fund on our website.
Be on the lookout for a new cyber-attack which impersonates Microsoft Teams
Recently the Council has been notified of a new attack method being used by cyber criminals, which aims to steal account login details by luring people into clicking a malicious link included in an email which claims to be a notification relating to Microsoft Teams.
The emails involved are carefully crafted to impersonate a genuine notification you may expect to receive if a colleague has interacted with you through Teams and some examples are visually very convincing. Find out how to avoid this attack...
Welfare and schooling
On Monday 4 May, 316 state funded schools were open. 3120 children attended school of which 1005 were vulnerable. In Early Years, 498 settings were open and 2098 children attended of whom 286 were vulnerable.
The secretary of state has recently announced short term modifications to the section of the Children and Families Act regarding Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
Some things have not changed, for example annual reviews, appeals and schools admitting children. However, how EHCPs are delivered has temporarily changed. This should not mean any immediate changes to how schools and the Special Educational Needs (SEN) team are working with children and families but how we deliver our duties will be different.
The Department for Education (DfE) has provided detailed guidance and over this week the services across education, care and health will be working together with the Parent Carer Forum to look at what information we can provide and how we are managing this in Devon.
A presentation on 'school settings in the time of COVID-19' can be found here .
Supporting and protecting our children in care
Work is underway across Children's Services and schools to prepare for the expected announcement from the Prime Minister on Sunday 10 May, possibly loosening lockdown and preparing for a phased return to schools, we are also planning for the half term and school holidays.
Children's social work teams are continuing to provide a service aimed at fully supporting vulnerable children and their families. This has involved completing a risk assessment in relation to COVID-19 for every child who they are working with. In most instances this has resulted in increasing the number of contacts made with vulnerable children and their families.
There has been a nationally reported increase in domestic abuse and violence since the lockdown. For context, the organisations in Devon who deal with domestic abuse have seen a 62% increase in referrals since COVID-19. This is because the protracted nature of the lockdown means that pressure is building in some families.
Cllr James McInnes added:
"Children therefore need extra eyes on them to monitor and keep them safe and need to be out of the home to release some of that pressure in their families. Consequently social workers have been requesting additional time in education (including early years) settings for some children.
"Social workers are being encouraged to talk directly with schools, early years and other education settings to have a professional conversation about how collectively we can help keep these children safer. Teachers have been asked to offer a safe space, for anyone needing it, to make that crucial call for help, and have been asked to remind pupils and parents of this."
Also, to note, Boots chemists are offering safe spaces within their pharmacies for victims of domestic abuse. And for those who need help, call the local Victim Support team in Devon and Cornwall on 0300 303 0554. Lines are open midday-6.00pm Monday to Friday or call 08 08 16 89 111 outside the hours, or via the free live chat for 24/7 support.
Karen Morris plans to retire from her role as Locality Director Mid and East at the end of June.
Work is underway to secure her replacement which is likely to be an interim role. Karen will do everything she can to ensure an effective handover. The new Senior Manager for children in care and care leavers, Vanessa Strang, is now in place and the new Senior Manager responsible for Quality Assurance, Mark Barratt, joins us on 11 May 2020.
We’re managing a lot of change in senior leadership across our children's social care service. We expect the DfE to formally review the post-Ofsted arrangements in July and we are planning to put in place a shadow improvement partnership in June.
Meanwhile everyone is working incredibly hard to make sure we meet the needs of key workers and vulnerable children, and we very much appreciate all of the support and encouragement.
Young people can text our school nurses for support
Although schools are only open for a few pupils, our local school nurses are here to support young people aged 11-19 years old who may have health and wellbeing concerns. They are offering a free and confidential text service called Devon Public Health Nursing ChatHealth.
They can talk to a Devon school nurse in confidence about relationships, how they are feeling, bullying, self-harm, smoking or any other concerns by texting 07520631722. Nurses are available 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and can offer support on a wide range of concerns.
Additional funding to help youth clubs
Youth Work in Devon is a partnership led by our youth service provider, SPACE, alongside VOYC Devon. As well as their own work with young people, SPACE also support the many local independently run youth clubs in Devon with financial support, training and advice. They will be part of the solution in helping young people in the transition back to normal life over the following months.
We and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall have given them an extra £50,000, to help youth clubs and to ensure that they're still operating after COVID-19. For more information about support available to clubs working with young people across Devon, visit the SPACE website.
Adult care and health updates
Over the last week there has been both a change in approach and language within the health system, with central messages and direction focusing on support to care homes, and the wider social care offer of ‘'wrap around support to care homes'.
This increasing national recognition of issues facing social care, and care homes in particular, has complemented our local support to the care homes market, and the weekly care homes webinar hosted with the CCG has proved incredibly popular and useful.
Cllr Andrew Leadbetter said:
"The ongoing weekly care home webinars have been a great success with over 150 care homes attending each session. The next webinar in the series will cover advanced care planning, deprivation of liberties and a care home owner will be sharing some of the initiatives they are taking to tackle COVID-19."
"Personal protective equipment (PPE) guidance seems to be in a consistent and established place now, and despite the national focus on shortages, we've been able to maintain local supplies, working very closely with the CCG. We have also been approached nationally to see how other areas can learn from us."
As mentioned in Councillor Leadbetter's Members' email sent on 5 May, you can also share the letter from the Secretary of State Robert Jenrick thanking town and parish councils for their work during the pandemic.
Look out for your next weekly email update direct from Cllr Andrew Leadbetter.
GP practices, pharmacies and A&E departments open
GP practices and A&E departments in Devon remain open during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Pharmacies in Devon will be open on Bank Holiday Friday this week (8 May) if you need them. You can search for your nearest pharmacy online. And GP surgeries and medical centres are open usual hours on Friday 8 May 2020.
Do you know anyone who needs help?
If any Devon resident needs urgent help because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic but don’t have any family, friends or neighbours to ask and are not receiving support directly from government, local authority or community services, they can contact their local district council.
They each have individual helplines set up to make it easier for people to get help with things like deliveries of essential food, household supplies and medicine as well as extra care and social contact. Depending on what they need, they will be able to help organise support through either a local hub, the NHS volunteer responder scheme or a local community group.
Trading Standards advice to businesses
Our Trading Standards Team is continuing to monitor the restrictions put in place to help keep us all safe. They are reminding businesses that we need them to continue to act responsibly and follow the government guidance over the bank holiday weekend.
Cllr Rufus Gilbert said:
“Although the lockdown is due to be reviewed this week, we need our local businesses to continue to act responsibly and follow the government guidance."
Reminder to only make essential journeys
Unfortunately, we've seen the amount of traffic on our roads creep up recently. A sample of traffic flows from 10 automatic traffic counters on Devon's A-roads has found that around 10,000 more daily trips are now being made, compared with a week ago.
Cllr Stuart Hughes said:
"We can’t let that go now, particularly with a Bank Holiday coming up. If everyone starts travelling around Devon it may not take much for us to lose the progress we’ve made."
Reminder: think about whether you need to make your journey. Otherwise please stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.
Active Devon launch Active Agents live chat
While staying at home, you may be wondering how to remain active or what do to support your mental wellbeing? Active Devon's Active Agents can help!
They've launched a new live chat function so you can talk to them from the comfort of your own home and they can support, encourage and inspire you to remain active whatever your situation.
Life under lockdown - a poem
Here's a brilliant poem about life under lockdown by a mum to two young adopted children who shared it with our adoption team at Adopt South West. It will especially resonate with those who are struggling to prioritise schooling at the moment under the lockdown during coronavirus (COVID-19). You can read it on the Adopt South West website.
By pulling together across the Council, with our partners and our communities, we are doing everything we can to help us all through this incredibly difficult time. Thank you to you and your community and stay safe and well.
Please note that all of our sites and offices are closed to the public, except for necessary prearranged visits
|
